Photos: Colonie dedicates refurbished park to fallen trooper

Colonie Town Supervisor, Paula Mahan, center at podium, addresses those gathered, including the wife and children of New York State Trooper Michael Anson on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Newtonville, N.Y. A ceremony was held at the newly named NYSP Michael J. Anson Memorial Park. Trooper Anson died from 9/11-related illness. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union) less

Colonie Town Supervisor, Paula Mahan, center at podium, addresses those gathered, including the wife and children of New York State Trooper Michael Anson on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Newtonville, N.Y. A ... more

Colonie Town Supervisor, Paula Mahan, center at podium, addresses those gathered, including the wife and children of New York State Trooper Michael Anson on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Newtonville, N.Y. A ceremony was held at the newly named NYSP Michael J. Anson Memorial Park. Trooper Anson died from 9/11-related illness. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union) less

Colonie Town Supervisor, Paula Mahan, center at podium, addresses those gathered, including the wife and children of New York State Trooper Michael Anson on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, in Newtonville, N.Y. A ... more

COLONIE — A newly refurbished town park was dedicated Thursday to honor the legacy of a state trooper who died from a Sept. 11-related illness.

Trooper Michael J. Anson, a Colonie native and 31-year veteran of the State Police, died in January from an illness that stemmed from his work at the smoldering World Trade Center site in 2001.

Town Supervisor Paula Mahan, as well as other town and law enforcement officials, met with the late trooper's family on Thursday afternoon to dedicate Roessleville Pocket Park to Anson's memory.

The 56-year-old husband and father of three spent most of his career working in Troop G, which patrols the Capital Region. Capt. Joseph Keane, a childhood friend and State Police colleague, recalled Anson as a "dedicated family man" and "good, hard-nosed trooper" days after he died.

"He was so proud of his daughter becoming a nurse and his oldest son becoming a police officer" in Colonie, the captain said. Anson's youngest son turned 14 in December.

Anson, who was retired, had most recently stationed at the New Scotland barracks but also worked out of barracks in East Greenbush, Brunswick and Schodack. From 2003 and 2010, Anson was the school resource officer assigned to Averill Park and Brunswick. For the past five years, Anson served at the State Police Academy — where recruits called him the "fatherly" training officer, Keane said.

Thousands of emergency workers who sifted through the debris to find remains of victims have been sickened by the fumes they inhaled. The poisoning has been blamed for a number of deaths. Nearly 70,000 responders, including recovery and cleanup workers as well as emergency responders, are enrolled in the federal World Trade Center Health Program.

At the time of his passing, Anson was the sixth State Police member, and the second from Troop G, to die from a Sept. 11-related illness, State Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said.